1. The wings of night spread, and eyes are sleepless,
An apparition is with him, the tryst is lost.

2. The apparition of her - had she been warned of his coming
She would have erected a thousand barriers to forbid him.

3. A girl has related the tale of the crescent moon, although
She spends the night behind veils while the crescent is rising.

4. My heart was entrusted with her, but she is lost, and I wonder
When were hearts safeguarded by the beautiful their trusts?

5. He is the truthful, the sincere friend who is loyal,
Whose great works with us are skills.

6. He has from the rhymes of poetry an army fluttering,
Which came to Beirut from him as pioneers.

7. Rhymes he composed, following them,
As what came before them followed.

8. It is the flower, but the compositions are flags,
It is the flower, but the lines are dawns.

9. To the eye it has a gloomy aspect, but
In the heart it is dazzling white.

10. He brought us together gently, courteously,
His gifts are brilliant pearls.

11. A literary man excelling in eloquence, unique
In collecting scattered virtues.

12. The brother of prudence, steadfast in his every decision,
So none contends with him in his deeds.

13. Every seeker takes shelter in him
And he among humanity is exalted.

14. May God reward the Nile water well, for it
Is a drink from Paradise for people flowing.

15. A drink for God's people, slaking thirst,
And slaking through what it slakes vast lands.

16. God has spared Egypt the benefits of others,
And benefits flow through it to others.

17. A haven for scholars in every epoch,
It is the motherland, and countries are its meadows.

18. I yearn for those lands and those in them,
Yet hopes of reunion are vain fantasies.

19. When it is said the impossible is three things,
This to those three is a fourth.